Au. africanus was anatomically similar to Au. afarensis, with a combination of human-like and ape-like features. Compared to Au. afarensis, Au. africanus hada rounder cranium housing a larger brain and smaller teeth, but it also had some ape-like features including relatively long arms and a strongly sloping face that juts out from underneath the braincase with a pronounced jaw. Like Au. afarensis, the pelvis, femur (upper leg), and foot bones of Au.
This partial skeleton consists of several thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, a pelvis, a sacrum, and pieces of a rib and a femur. The vertebrate show this species walked upright in a way very similar to modern humans. The uniquely human curve of your lower back absorbs shock when you walk. This early human's spine had the same curve.
When this 3-year-old child's skull was found in 1924, it was among the first early human fossils to be found in Africa -- and the first early human fossil discovery to draw major attention to this region as a place of origin of the human family tree. Still, it took over 20 years after that before scientists accepted the importance of Africa as a major source of human evolution.
Paranthropus robustus is an example of a robust australopithecine; they had very large megadont cheek teeth with thick enamel and focused their chewing in the back of the jaw. Large zygomatic arches (cheek bones) allowed the passage of large chewing muscles to the jaw and gave P. robustus individuals their characteristically wide, dish-shaped face. A large sagittal crest provided a large area to anchor these chewing muscles to the skull. These adaptations provided P.